Ignition-wire conduit



Feb. 4, 1930. c. s. cRAwFoRD IGNITION WIRE GONDUIT Filed Dec. 31, 1928 lf 'beiiigtbroken-awayig n LcEig. 2 is, for the" most part, apartialve'rtrcal sect-ion" taken in "a broken plane such as l u 50%thatzindicated.bytheiline'272 ofFigure-l.

Patented Feb, '4 193 CHARLES-S. cRAwroan, or nn rjaorr, MIcHIGANQAssIGNoB roeEnEaAL Morons con- 1 ronarron,.-or1nnraorr, mcnrean, Acoaroaarron or DELAWARE V Crammer- E CONDUIT Application'filed December'31, 1928; serial m.jzazaarr.-

{I b Although the presentinvention referred j to simply as an ignitionwirecondui-t, it should be understood: that said invention is directedmore particularly .to the provision p 5 of 'lmeans for supporting-acover element serving lncidental'ly in spaclng and/ or pro tectingv the'high tensionflwires vused 1n coni necting'the so-called distributorhead-i of an 7 internal combustion enginewith a series of 10 sparkplugs; and preferred embodiments f of this invention may accordinglyinclude spe 1 cial plates, adapted to be removably secured to engine'blocksandto provide suitable longi v tudinal passages or channels toreceive sets of such wires, sa1d,passages or channels being preferablyprovided not a only with entrance openings, suitable toreceive aplurality of V the mentioned :wires,but with separate open i c lingsth-rough whichsaid wir'es may-be rf speci tively led, forattachment-to the mentioned spark plugs, i

..-I n all: forms the present the 3 mentioned plate may be formed ptroma sheet materialwandadapted to be removably re :7 i I tainedgby-meanssuch as a peripheral or otherset ofscrews; said plate may be-providedwith a series of apertures corresponding in; number's-and positiom withthe' nentioned spark plugs; and either the mentioned plate so orlasubsidiaryplate when used, or both,-may be provided with a longitudinalconcavity and/or-wvith the mentioned separate apertures for:the'respectiVe' wires by which high tension current is delivered tosaid spark aa'p g -Y- I 1 i 1 :Other' objects 10f this invention,including i l va rious" optional and ;-;alternative *featureshereinafter referedto, may be best appre ciated from the followingdescriptionsztaken' 40: in connection-with the appended claims and thaccompanying drawings .1 Fig.y1 's a side'elevat onalvlew, showing 7one,advantageousembodiment of thepresent' in've'ntioni as applied to asix-cylinder engine i whose spark plugs are horizontaly" arranged in" asuitable lateral compartment,l'parts plane such as that suggested by1ine44 of I Figure 1,'or bythe line tl of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is vasectional view, taken substan tially as indicated bythe line55 of Figure lyand showing featureswhi'ch permitalter-c nativearrangements ofparts. i 9 i Fig; 6 is aiview, comparable with Figure 5,showing a simplified, primitive, or partial embod ment of theinvention.

Fig. 7 is a partial elevational view show f STATES}, PATE QFFICEJing'another simple or partial embodiment-of J the invention, parts'beingbroken away.

Referringfirst to features shown 'in Fig- I 7 ures 1, 2, and 3, anengine bloclrlO is shown as laterally provided witha compartment 11,adapted to contain 'various movable and/or 1 fiXed' parts, including aseries of six spark plugsi12;.saidengineblock is shown asalso supportinga distributor head 1'3, suitably positioned for use in connection withhigh tension wires 14, 14 14H, 14, llfiandlltto assure properly timedsparking oftheres'pecs tive spark plugs" 12; and thepresentinventionshould beunderstood to relate particularly tolthe provision of acoverwhichserves I also as supporting, housing, spacing a and orposltionlng means for sald 'WII'BS or equiva-f lent'conductors. Z I

- For the purposes last referred to, a, remov 1 able main cover plate15, shown as secured by screws 16 ,and asprovided witha'seriesofplug-passingopenings 17 ,opposite the respec-f tivecspark plugs 12 (topermit independent; withdrawal, inspection and/or replacement JOf-lihGrespective spark'p'lugs without neces-.-

sitating removal of'said plate) is shown asyprovided also with I a1ongitu'dinally-eXtend-- ing passage, channel or depression 18, adapt-''ed to receive and'parti'ally or completely to enclose said wires.

' jAs best shown'in Figuresand: 3, the dc i pression 18 may extendinwardlygand it may be closed to any-desired degree,j.by means. 1

v such Iasa removable-or other subsidiary and the compartment 11', plugpassing openings flat or oppositely concaved cover plate 19. The latterplate, when provided, may be removably retained by any suitable means,such as catches 2O and/or screws 21,the latter being shown in Figure 2as engaged by nuts 22 and shown in Figure 3 as threaded into bosses 23,integral with the channel portion 18 of cover plate 15; and thesubsidiary plate 19 is shown as provided not only with asubstantiallycentral and flared upper ormain opening24, affording a common entrancefor the respective Wires 1d14 but with a series of longitudinally spacedoutlet openings '25, 25*, 25 25, 25 25 for said wires. It willbejobviousthat, assuming the cover plate 19 to be separately formed and removablein the indicated manner, the mentioned openings therein may either beprovided with uninterrupted edges or any or all'of said openings may beprovided (somewhat as suggested at- 24, 25 and 25 Fig. 1) with slots sopositioned as to permit the positioning of said subsidiary cover platesafter both ends of the mentioned wires are secured and withoutdisconnection thereof; and in case an additional wire, such as a mainfeed wire l is required to be brought to or from the distributor head13, provision may be made therefor either externally of or within thechannel 18,-as by the provision of an additional opening 25 near one endof the subsidiary plate 19.

' In the alternative form shown in Figures 4 and 5, a channel 18 isprovidedby outwardly embossing a plate 15 covering a spark plugcompartment 11 in engine block 10; and an oppositely concaved subsidiarycover plate 19 is shown as permanently and inwardly secured thereto, asby welding at the edges thereof. In this embodiment, a substantiallycentral and common inlet opening 24: is shown as positioned at a lowerlevel than alternative series of outlet openings 25 and 25 In order toadapt the plate 15 to use under exceptional conditions, in which sparkplugs 12 may be housed entirely within 17 may be provided with separate.closures 26, for a'dustexcluding or other effect, the

interior set of openings 25 being provided for optional use in thegeneral manner suggested in Figure 5 Fig. 6 shows a cover plate 15"-which is provided with plug-passing openings 17 and with a channel18having wire-passing open-V ings 24 and 25,the channel 18 and the use ofany subsidiary cover plate therewith being optional.

. Fig. 7 shows a substantially flat plate 15'. from which tongues a'restruck in such manner as to provide holes 28 andlolipssuitable for usein retaining wires.

- It should be understood that, in'the various embodiments of thepresent invention, cover plates adapted to serve in the described mannermay be disposed either in a substantially provided with separate :outletopenings for vertical plane or in any otherdesired plane- 'or planes;and that, for the identification of the respective high tension wires,the insulation thereon may be given distinctive colors in case partsthereof are concealed. Inany case, cover plates specialized in thegeneral manner described will be seen to support and assure the spacingand orderly arrangement of the respective conductors in rout-of -thewaypos1t1ons,'ma1nta1n1ng the separateness thereof in such manner that anywire may be but that numerous additional modifications might easily bedevised,-all without involve 7 ing the slightest departure from thescope of the invention.

Iclaim: 1 1 1. For use upon an internal combustion engine provided witha compartment wherein are disposed a plurality of spark plugs, eachspark plug being connectedwitha separate conductor acover plateadaptedtoform a side wall of said compartm ei1t,-said.platev being formed ofsheet material havinga 1011-] f gitudinally-extending channel formedthere- 7 in and apertured to admitsaid conductors.

.2. For use upon an internal combustion engine'provided with'acompartment wherein are disposed aplurality of spark plugs, each sparkplug being connected with a separate conductor 'a-cover plate carrying asubsidiary plate and adapted'to form a side wall of said compartmentandto provide a common passage for said conductors,rwalls of saidpassage being formed by oppositely disposed concavities in said plates.V

3. For use upon an internal combustion engine provided with acompartment wherein are'disposed a plurality of sparkplugs, each sparkplug being connected with .a separate conductor: a sheet metal coverplate adapted to form a side wall of said compartment, and to provideone wall of a common passage for said conductors,vsaid passage beingcompleted by an oppositelydispos'ed element and said, conductors. v V a7 v 4. Foruse upon an internal combusion en gine provided with acompartment wherein. are disposeda plurality of sparkplugs, each sparkplug being connected with" a separate conductor: ascover plate adaptedto form a 7 side wall of said compartment and to provide acommon'passage for said conductors,said passage being provided with'asubstantially central main opening and with separate outlet openings forsaid conductors."

5; For use upon an engineblock provided with a plurality of spark plugshaving sepas rate conductors connected therewith: means comprising amain plate carried by said block, V

for so supportlng said conductors as to protect and space the same in amanner permit ting separate j replacement thereof,'said means comprisingalso a subsidiary platese V cured to said main plate and at least one ofsaid plates being apertured suitably to per- ,i nut-passage of both saidconductors and said spark plugs therethrough. 1 V 6. For useupon anengine block-provided with a plurality of spark'plugs having separateconductors connected therewith: retaining means carried by said'blockfor so sup-' porting said conductors as to space the same in a mannerpermitting separate replacement thereof,.'said means comprising anapertured cover plate secured to said block and provided with alongitudinal depression I adapted to receive said conductors.

' rate replacement thereof,l-said means com-s pr slng a cover platesecured to said block 7 For use upon an engine block provided with aplurality of spark plugs having separate conductors connected therewith:retaining means carried by said block for so supporting said conductorsas to protect and space the same in'a manner permitting sepaandPIOVldQClWIT/h a subsidiary plate, said plates being so formed as toprovidetherebetween longitudinal passage for said' con ductors.

In testimony whereof I aifiX my signature.

CHARLES SQ CRAWFORD. I

